NORTH Korea has dismissed calls from the U.S. to halt its nuclear production and tone down its fiery rhetoric, declaring it will not "pay slightest heed to such talk."

North Korea has warned it will continue to ramp up its military presence

A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry has said the U.S. is "wholly resposible" for escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula, passionately arguing that the secretive state will refuse to give up on its bid to become a nuclear power.

Referring to Secretary of State John Kerry's calls for open talks with the North, the statement said: "Recently U.S. high-ranking officials are vying with each other to talk about dialogue.

"This is nothing but a crafty ploy to evade the blame for the tension on the eve of a war by pretending to refrain from military actions and stand for dialogue.

"It is none other than the U.S which sparked off a vicious cycle of tension, pursuant to its hostile policy to stifle the DPRK by force of arms, and pushed the situation on the Korean Peninsula to the worst phase.

Days after Kerry visited Beijing over tensions on the Korean peninsula, China revealed it is uneasy with what the US has called the "rebalancing" of forces as Washington winds down the war in Afghanistan and renews its attention in the Asia-Pacific.

Genuine dialogue is possible only at the phase where the DPRK has acquired nuclear deterrent enough to defuse the U.S. threat

The North has declared it has needed to toughen up its defences to deal with a hostile West bent on undermining it.

"Dialogue should be based on the principle of respecting sovereignty and equality – this is the DPRK's consistent stand," the offical statement said.

"Genuine dialogue is possible only at the phase where the DPRK has acquired nuclear deterrent enough to defuse the U.S. threat of nuclear war unless the U.S. rolls back its hostile policy and nuclear threat and blackmail against the former.

"This time when the DPRK has been exposed to the U.S. direct and substantial threat of nuclear attack, it keenly felt the need to bolster up its nuclear deterrence both in quality and quantity.

"The DPRK will escalate its military countermeasures for self-defence unless the U.S. ceases its nuclear war drills and withdraws all its war hardware for aggression," the statement concluded.The North also urged its people to be prepared for decisive action to deal with the insults carried out by South Korean anti-communist groups against its leadership, Pyongyang's state media outlet said today.

The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), said in a front-page article that a state of war has been created on the Korean Peninsula by repeated actions taken by South Korean right-wing groups who have committed sacrilege against the "supreme dignity" of the country.